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Pokemon Fuchsania
We took a closer look at the cartridge. I read aloud: "Pokémon: Fuchsania Version." What the hell? There wasn't even a Pokémon on the front like a normal Pokémon game should have, just a swirl of purples and reds. Ann noticed that I was intrigued, and without a moment's notice, she swiped the game from my hands and went up to the counter to pay for it. I normally would have stopped her from spending her money, but I really wanted to play this game. It was clearly a hacked cartridge, but I knew I would enjoy it, whether it was a decent hack, or it was so bad that it made me chuckle. Either way, I had to have it. After thanking Ann for my gift, and parting ways with her, I drove home, excited to play "Pokémon Fuchsia". I couldn't help but stare at the cartridge, sitting there in the passenger's seat. The swirl of colors was almost mesmerizing. Before I knew it, I could hear the loud sounds of swerving vehicles, and car horns. I looked up to notice that I was driving on the wrong side of the road. I quickly adjusted my car, and kept driving. I looked at my surroundings, and noticed that I was almost home. "What? That should have taken me at least half an hour." I looked at the clock and noticed that almost half an hour had passed since I left the mall. How long had I been staring at the game? I shrugged off the event, knowing that dwelling on it would only make me feel paranoid. I arrived home a few minutes later. I threw my keys on the table, and headed to my room. I grabbed my old Game Boy that I'd had since I was twelve. I positioned Pokémon Fuchsia into the back and powered it up. I couldn't help but feel a little excited, but also anxious at the same time, remembering what happened in the car. I thought that it somehow had something to do with the game. See what I mean about feeling paranoid? Anyway, the screen loaded to the Game Freak logo, frozen. No star animation, no sound, nothing. I sat there for a minute, and the game finally brought me to the "NEW GAME" option. I clicked on it, and eagerly awaited to see just what Pokémon Fuchsia was. It brought me to a normal beginning with Oak explaining the world of Pokémon, only instead of Oak, it was Koga, Fuchsia City's gym leader. "I see!" I exclaimed to myself. I couldn't believe that it had taken me this long to realize why it was called "Pokémon Fuchsia". It was obviously a hack focusing on Fuchsia City. This may in fact be interesting. If I'd only known how interesting it would turn out to be. Koga explained the world of Pokémon almost word for word like it is explained by Oak in Pokémon Red and Blue. I say almost because at the end of his lecture, he says the following, "Remember, though. You can't always hide from the bad things in this world. You have to learn to fight your way out. Pokémon are meant to wage war in our honor, and for the sake of keeping us out of harm's way. This is their purpose. This is why they were made." I found this last line odd, to say the least, especially the words: "This is why they were made." Made? What did he mean by that? Keeping his words in mind, I continued. I named my character like normal, and chose my gender. I was then placed inside my room, also like normal. I went downstairs and saw what I assumed was my mom. My assumption turned out to be false when I pressed the A button to talk to her. The text box read: "Janine: Hi, sweety. Are you ready for your big day? You do remember what today is, right?" I was offered a choice, YES, or NO. I clicked NO. "Janine: Today is your big showdown with my dad, silly, remember? Just because he doesn't approve of our relationship doesn't mean you have to be worried. He's strong, but you can take him. I believe in you." That's right; Janine is Koga's daughter. I seemed to be dating her in the game. So far, I was liking this hack. But why did I have to battle Koga this early in the game, and with what Pokémon? I hit start and looked to see if I had any Pokémon. Luckily, I did—a level 40 Nidoking, and a level 40 Nidoqueen. This was odd to start the game off with, but I was happy with the lineup. I went outside, and unsurprisingly I found my self in Fuchsia City. I wandered about and found that it looked exactly the same as the Fuchsia City I remembered as a kid, except for the fact that my house from Pallet Town was also there. I talked to the townsfolk, only to be greeted with distaste. They all said hateful things to me, like "Koga is going to put you in your place" or "I hope Koga teaches you a lesson". Clearly Koga had the entire town against me. I could only guess that he really didn't like me dating his daughter. So far the hack had aroused my curiosity, but it was quite peculiar, to say the least. I finally made my way to the gym and went inside. The gym was no more than a small room, devoid of anything material or living. Anything, that is, except for who I could only assume was Koga standing at the tip of the room. I walked over and hit A to engage in battle, but to no avail. Koga said this, "I have no interest in battling you until you know the truth about Pokémon. Go to the Safari Zone library and learn before you fight." Safari Zone library? Strange... I left the gym and went to the Safari Zone. Inside, there were two doors, and in between them was a sign that read: < SAFARI ZONE   |   SAFARI ZONE LIBRARY > I walked over to the right and into the library like Koga had instructed. I must say, I was intrigued. The room looked like a Poké-Mart, only larger. The 'aisles' were composed of books instead of poké-products. There was a door in the corner of the room where the cashier normally would have been. With every room there was more shelves, more books, and more doors. It was endless. Every time I would try to read a book from one of the shelves, a text box would pop up saying, "You cannot read these..." With every room, every shelf, every book, and every text box, I became more and more motivated to press on and figure out just what was going on. Eventually I came to a final room. There were no 'aisles' and no books. There was just a man in the center of the room. He looked like a one of those random sprites from Oak's lab. I went over to him and pressed the 'A' button. He simply said, "Come with me." Come with him where? There were no doors left. Where were we going? The screen faded to black and the two of us appeared in another doorless room with not even a exit. There was machinery and computers all around. It was reminiscent of Bill's house in Cerulean City, but more detailed. I could see how the person responsible for this hacked cartridge created the game, and I applauded him for his work—at least, at that point I did. It was enjoyable at that time, and left me wanting more; always theorizing what was to come next, because at this point, Pokémon Fuschia didn't make much sense—much like reading the beginning of a good mystery novel. If only I had left it a mystery. The lab sprite fiddled around on the largest computer in the room and then walked over to me. He said, "This is where Pokémon are created." I was nothing short of shocked when I read this statement, and I became even more interested in Pokémon Fuchsia. It had the potential to be even better than a normal Pokémon game. The lab sprite continued on: "Although, it wasn't always this way. This town is Koga's passion, and he would stop at nothing to keep it from any sort of demise. Years ago, when the Safari Zone was at its peak of popularity, it soon became apparent that it would...well...run out of Pokémon. Koga could not have this. It was the only thing bringing people to Fuchsia City, a place that he himself founded to start a life with his daughter after her mother passed away." I think the creator of this game was laying Koga's back-story on a little thick, but I read on. "Working with Prof. Oak and myself, Koga spent two long years trying to create Pokémon, and just as the Safari Zone was going under, he succeeded." The detail that this game was going into just at the beginning was impressive. He continued, "Have you ever noticed that the Pokémon in the Safari Zone can't be caught anywhere else? That's because they aren't anywhere else. These Pokémon were created here. The first one we created was Scyther, followed by Tauros, and the list goes on. However, Koga soon became obsessed with the idea of creating Pokémon for his own personal agenda—becoming the most powerful trainer there ever was." Okay, so, that is as much as I could remember word for word. I have a photographic memory, but this game went into too much detail. The next million paragraphs explained that Prof. Oak originally created Pokémon—all Pokémon. This is why it only took two years for him, the lab guy, and Koga to do so again. Koga became abnormally power hungry and forced Oak to re-create every Pokémon, only more powerful. He did so after years and years of hard, relentless work, but the problem with creating such strong Pokémon is that they too become power hungry. These Pokémon were killers and ended up killing the original Pokémon population within a year. Very few trainers could control such malicious creatures, and that's why Koga and my character are the only trainers left. In a sense, though the game never put it into words, Koga ruled the Pokémon world. I think Fuchsia City was the only town left, and everyone there is too scared to cross him. When he hates something, they hate the same thing—such as me. Despite the absurdly long dialogue, I was developing quite the fascination with this odd, but engaging storyline. The creator chose an oddball town/gym leader as the focus for his narrative. This made the story refreshingly original. Koga started with a commendable motive for his actions, but quickly lost his way and began creating Pokémon to fight for him, making him the most feared individual in 'poké-world', if you will. It was also vaguely believable considering the hard-headed nature of Koga in the original Pokémon games. I liked it. Later on, I would learn to hate it. What I perceived to be the next morning, I woke to the sound of a loud knocking on my apartment door. I didn't even remember going to bed. I jumped up, and ran to see who it was. I opened the door, and there was Ann, looking very upset, but relieved when she saw me. "There you are! What the hell? You haven't answered your texts or calls in over two weeks!" I looked at her for a moment with a touch of anger in my eyes and reminded her, "What are you talking about? We were hanging out yesterday at the mall." Ann looked astonished. "That was more than two weeks ago! What's going on? Are you on drugs?!" Ann didn't seem to be joking, even in the slightest. I picked up my cell phone and noticed almost a hundred texts, and twenty-two missed calls. I then checked the date. It had indeed been over two weeks. I had apparently slept through my birthday, and many days after that. What the fuck? I immediately asked Ann to take me to my doctor. Cutting to the chase, he found nothing wrong with me. Ann brought me home after I nearly had a panic attack, wondering what had happened, and then that was that. I called my job and explained everything. They understood, and I relaxed. I then remembered the game. "Maybe that will get my mind off of things," I thought to myself. I went to my room, grabbed the game, and continued playing. The last thing I remembered was the lab guy explaining everything to me in that doorless room. As soon as I started the game up, without so much as a Game Freak logo or a "NEW GAME/CONTINUE" screen, it took me to a flashback of what I had done up to this point, much like FireRed and LeafGreen. There were multiple cutscenes of my character losing to Koga. I didn't recall fighting him whatsoever. Then again, I didn't remember anything that happened to me over the past two weeks. I was very unnerved, but I kept watching to see what else I had done. After what must have been my tenth loss to Koga, it revealed my character walking to a building adjacent to the Safari Zone, walking inside, and meeting with what looked like Prof. Oak. The next scene showed my character stepping into a machine in the corner of Oak's home (like the one in Bill's house on Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen), and then reappearing outside of a cave in the middle of what looked to be a red ocean (lava, maybe?). It displayed my character walking into the cave, fighting with a glitch Pokémon called "EXP. 1" that looked like MissingNo., and capturing it. The next scene showed me fighting Koga and winning. The last scene depicted my character taking Koga's place in the gym. Everyone in the town was there before me. It then showed an unsettling animation of my character's sprite with a menacing smile on his face. It would appear that my character was the new tyrant in town. I wasn't sure how to feel about this. There was only one way to find out how this had happened. I had to keep playing. I found my character in the gym, right where the cut scenes had left off. I walked outside and immediately noticed that something was off. There was no one around. I tried to walk into some of the houses, but all of the doors were locked. I walked over to my house, and luckily I was able to get in. I went inside and talked to Janine. All that she could say was "...". I wasn't exactly getting to the bottom of anything. I thought about the cut scenes for a second and recalled "EXP. 1". I looked at my party. Nidoking and Nidoqueen were gone, and in their place was the odd MissingNo-like 'Pokémon'. It had no stats, no moves, and no level—only its name, and its glitchy appearance. This was strange. I then remembered the building near the Safari Zone. I ventured to its entrance, and to my satisfaction it too was unlocked. I walked inside and talked to Oak. This is what he said: "What have I done? I should have never sent you to that place. I put that Pokémon there for a reason. Its evil nature has consumed you! It was the first Pokémon I ever created, and it was a failed experiment. I should have never created it in the first place! When you asked for a Pokémon that could defeat Koga, it was the only one I could think of. I thought that maybe if you could defeat him, you could restore this world to its original luster. This is much worse. You are much worse. The thing you caught in that cave, the thing I created so long ago, has changed you. We are all damned. If you have any sense left in you, you will bring that thing back where you caught it. GO! NOW!" Just then, Oak vanished. I immediately walked over to the teleportation machine and went back to the island, almost as if I felt that the evil nature of this Pokémon actually had real world repercussions. My paranoia got the best of me. I traveled back to the cave and walked inside, but nothing happened. I looked at my party, but nothing was there. Fuck. I traveled back to Fuchsia City for answers. My answer was waiting for me in the gym. I walked in and found nothing—nothing visible, that is. Battle music started, and I soon found myself face-to-face with EXP. 1, for the second time, I guess. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Now you might think me foolish for getting so caught up in a video game, but this 'story' is purely to describe the game to you, the reader, and it is a "you had to be there" story at best. You really would have to have played the game to understand my fear. Otherwise you will only find this to be an amusing and maybe interesting off kilter horror read. The horror that I'm speaking of came next. The next thing I remember was waking up in my bed, drenched in sweat. I jumped up and urgently checked my phone for the date. This time, it really was the next day. Just as I sighed with relief, I heard knocking on my door. It was Ann. "I brought you some breakfast. How are you feeling?" "Not so great, but better I guess," I uttered. I explained everything to her and told her that I thought the game was causing me to blackout from time to time. She looked at me in disbelief, but she could tell I was spooked. "Jesus, dude. I knew you loved video games, but this is plain pathetic. This game is taking its toll on your mental health. Where is it?" Despite her harsh words, I knew she was just concerned. I brought the game out to her and she swiped it from my hand without a second thought. "I'm taking this for a few days. As for you; do something productive! If I had known you would get so worked up over this thing, I wouldn't have given it to you in the first place. Maybe I'll play it and see what has you so stressed out." My last two words to her were, "But Ann-". She had left. This would be the last time I spoke with Ann. If only I had known this. I sat down and thought to myself, "Maybe this will be good for me. That game was freaking me out anyways. I don't need it." Those last four words may have been true, but it didn't feel that way. Over the course of the next couple of days I felt a stronger and stronger urge to continue the game and see what would happen next. It was to the point where I just had to get it back—and no one, not even Ann could keep that game from me. I called and called, texted and texted, but Ann would not answer me. I finally decided to drive to her house to get the game back. If I fail to depict the following events in a cohesive manner, that is to be expected, as this was one of the worst days of my life. I arrived at her house and knocked on the door for a solid five minutes. I tried opening the door, but it was locked. "Her car is in the driveway, so she has to be home," I exclaimed aloud. Now I'm not a fan of breaking and entering, but I was now worried about my best friend. I used my debit card to slip in through the front door. In retrospect I should have just called the police. I walked upstairs to her room after yelling her name a few times. I walked over to her room and opened the door. There she was, laying unconscious on the floor with a Game Boy in her hand, and Pokémon Fuchsia in the back. "Ann!" I ran over to her and shook her almost-lifeless body. She wouldn't wake. I looked at the screen on the Game Boy. It was frozen on the same animation portraying my character with that same menacing smile on his face. I ran downstairs and called 9-1-1 on Ann's house phone. I left my house in such a hurry to get my game back that I forgot to grab my cell phone. An ambulance arrived as well as two police cars. Ann was taken away, and I was questioned relentlessly about what had happened. I never should have told them the truth, but I did. "So let me get this straight, a video game caused you to blackout for two weeks, and has now put your friend in a coma?" the cop interrogating me asked with a grin of distrust on his face. "She's in a coma? You have to believe me, I had nothing to do with this! It was the game. Just play it, and you will see. It was in her Game Boy!" I was very scared at this point. "That's just it...", the cop said, "there was no 'Game Boy' on the scene. Your story, even if it was remotely believable, is full of holes. Your friend's come was physically induced by a blow to the head. You admitted to breaking in, and you are the prime suspect in this investigation." I was speechless. I couldn't believe what he was saying. I just couldn't—but, wait. My mind wandered. All of a sudden everything was coming back to me. Just like the game, flashbacks were playing in my head of what really occurred over those weeks. I saw it in small 'cutscenes', but I remembered everything. Ann bought me the game. I went home and played it for two weeks, but I was looking at a blank screen the entire time. The cartridge never worked. She came over after the two weeks and yelled at me. "You have to stop playing that game! It doesn't even work! I'm worried about you!" I fought with her until she left and I kept looking at the nothing that was on the screen. She came over the following day and pried the game from my hands as I yelled at her. She left in a hurry and didn't come back. I drove to her home two days later, and broke in. We fought again. This time Ann was looked frightened. She told me that she gave the game away. I became furious and pushed her. She fell to the floor and didn't get up. By now I should maybe mention that as a child I suffered from blackouts and delusions of grandeur. I hadn't had an episode in over fifteen years, but this had to have been another one—a more severe one. My mom always thought that I had such an imagination the way I would play pretend with my Game Boy, until she became worried. I guess that I would play a game through until the end, and then keep playing it without the cartridge in. I would create new and wild story lines so that I could keep playing even when the game was over, especially with my Pokémon games. I used to black out, play games that weren't there and remember later when my psychiatrist would reach a breakthrough. It wouldn't last, and then I would forget again, even forget that I had the conversation with my psychiatrist in the first place. Given that my blackouts were mainly harmless, my mom stopped seeking help. I can remember all of this now. I blocked it out for so long, but how long will this breakthrough last? How long? The next thing I knew, I woke up on a cold bed in what I later found out was a mental hospital. I must have had another blackout. The doctors here say that Ann passed away shortly after being admitted to the hospital. I don't believe them. Koga has them against me. I'll find out what happened to her. Every answer I need is in that game. This is my message to the reader: Please help me. If you know where this game is, you must tell me. I have to play it. I need to know what actually happened to Ann, and I know it has something to do with the game. I just know it. Please, to anyone who finds this, please bring the game back to me. I have to keep playing it. I have to.